Love for the Testaments

Something that I have noticed becoming a sort of trend amongst peers that I have talked to and been around is this misconception between the Old and New Testament. This misconception deals with people that focus primarily on the New Testament, and just disregard the Old Testament as something that no longer applies to them. This worries me greatly since American Christians already deal with a serious issue of being biblically illiterate, but throwing out half, probably closer to two-thirds, of the Bible just because it doesn't appear to apply to you is just going to worsen this problem.

The reason people think the Old Testament isn't as important as the New Testament is because they believe if they just focus on the Gospels and Paul's Letters, then they'll be fine when it comes to biblical knowledge. The problem with this train of thought is that if you read what Jesus said or what Paul put in his letters, you see references to the Old Testament all over the place. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more than any other book while he walked the Earth. Paul in several places references events from the book of Numbers and talks about ancestors like Elijah or Isaiah. I think what tends to happen is that people see the sections with the names "old" or "new" and subconsciously think the new section must be more prevalent than the old section, otherwise a new section would not be needed. I did have a teacher at my college point out how some Jews find it offensive for the Torah and the other books that make up the Old Testament to have this name for similar reasons.

The reason why both sections have to be taken into account is because the Old Testament verifies the New Testament. When Paul, Peter, and John are saying to turn away from the ways of your ancestors, or to learn from those who have come before you, they are referencing the Old Testament. If you have no knowledge of the Old Testament, then it's difficult to see why Jesus was so radical with what he did and with what he was saying. Many people like to say that the Old Testament is nothing but laws and boring genealogies. Now while it does have both of those things, it has so much more to offer. There is a reason why the Pentateuch has survived for centuries amongst both Jews and Christians. The stories in those five books have applications that can be found even in today's world. The laws talked about in those books can be seen today, an example is why most of us never consider eating lizards.

Now the two things that worry me about this misconception is that if one only focuses on one section, then you will end up doing what the old saying states in that "those who fail to learn from their past are the ones who end up repeating it." Also, if a person is not very knowledgeable in parts of the Bible, this can very easily be exploited by Satan to lead people, both Christian and non, astray. So all I am saying is that the entire Bible needs to be read, studied, and analyzed, not only a particular section.

And remember, Don't Panic, and never forget your towel.

A Heated Rant

I know I had a poll to determine the next topic that I would discuss, but there is something I want to bring to the table while it is still relevant since it deals with the NBA finals. I hate hearing all this love for the Miami Heat. I know they got Lebron James and they made it to the finals like a lot of people predicted, but that is no reason to just bow and worship them and act like they are unstoppable.

The reason I bring this up is because the Heat won game 1 and so many people came out saying the series is over and the Heat are amazing. This was especially evident on ESPN, which is disgusting to me. The broadcasters on that network have had to stick their foot in their mouth many times in the past, you would think they would get tired of it and stop making such bold and ridiculous predictions, but not these people. These are the same people that said the Longhorns led by Vince Young could never beat USC lead by Reggie Bush and Matt Leinert. They also said the New York Giants could never beat the then undefeated Patriots in the superbowl or that Kurt Warner would never take the Arizona Cardinals to the superbowl. Of course as ESPN was proven wrong, they would back peddle and begin saying how they were really on the winning side the whole time, or just nit pick the losing team to make it seem like they weren't as unstoppable as they appeared.

Though of course now that the Mavericks have won game 2 in Miami, I'm sure there will be one of 2 reactions. People will just say this was just a small slip-up, but the series is still wrapped up, or they will jump on the Mavs bandwagon and be just as bad as they were for the Heat. I know this has been mostly a rant, but it is something that needs to be addressed because nothing in sports is certain, NOTHING. I get tired of people, especially sportscasters, that think they know something as unpredictable as sports. It's like trying to predict the weather a week or two out, odds are you will be wrong.

The biggest thing I just want people to take from this is to just watch and enjoy the series, no matter how it goes. Please, just stop trying to think that after one game you can predict an entire series, because honestly, if you were that good at predictions, you should go make some bets in Vegas and get rich while you can. Enjoy sports, especially the games/series that determine who the new champion will be of that particular sport, for the entertainment value they provide.

And remember, Don't Panic, and never forget your towel.